The bus satellite - fixed - arrived in Missoula Friday….Bill and the bus headed for Missoula yesterday afternoon for a hopefully first thing this morning appointment for the installation.

I spoke to Bill yesterday evening - he arrived and secured a freebie spot at the rv dealer and was plugged in despite a glitch with the generator (whole ‘nother story…). Shortly after he got settled, people were arriving hoping to get a spot in the “free” lot so his timing was good! We have fingers and toes crossed for a smooth install tomorrow and a trouble-free trip back AND hopefully satellite tv when he gets here!

It is a bit bittersweet - Bill and the bus will head back to Florida in 2-4 weeks … depending on various things, including weather - it’s darn hot and humid in FL at the moment. We made this plan some time ago but have concentrated on enjoying the summer together. This departure - even for the day -a reminder that the other is coming.

I am a northerner, lover of snow, cold and winter - Bill is a southerner with no desire for dealing with winter. We have 2 houses - they each need attention. That is where we are.

Today, the satellite gets installed and Bill returns. We will enjoy the remainder of this gorgeous summer together - hopefully with satellite tv in the bus!

Several friends have asked how Bill is doing with limited tv…the bus satellite stopped working en route, it was removed and shipped to Connecticut for repair-it is just tomorrow supposed to arrive back in Missoula and be reinstalled this week. I don’t have anything but “antenna” tv at the house. Bottom line is that he has had to subsist on the 300 or so DVD’s he has along and Netflix.

This is my blog and so it is “all about me”! - and I maintain the question is NOT “how is Bill doing with limited tv?”, but “How is Ann doing since Bill has limited tv?”…. the answer is he is still here and he is alive but some days it is a near thing. A few small projects have helped ease the situation…

One of the ramifications of the electrical install and 30 amp receptacle problems were that we fried the Winnebago converter and at the time we weren’t sure what else. A local shop replaced the converter and checked out everything else - they reported that the 3 GFCI outlets and both TVs were goners but all else had been protected by fuses and circuit breakers all operating as intended. Ultimately it was far better than what we expected. …and Bill said we would handle the TVs as they have internal fuses and possibly/hopefully, it was just those fuses. Additionally, “we” - had removed the front tv in the bus and installed a new surround sound thing and reinstalled all… the theory being we are now an experienced team at the whole RV TV removal/reinstall process… (my part was limited to unplugging and plugging things in the back of the tv as it was removed/reinstalled).

The remainder of this post is part of my RV maintenance and operation log…probably not all that fascinating if you are not an RVr and probably of no help if you don’t have a Winnebago Adventurer so no hard feelings if you decide not to read further…

We retrieved the Winnebago from the shop on Friday and putting it in a spot convenient to work on makes it look like the homestead is now also an rv park…

In addition to a new converter and GFCI’s, I had them replace the slide topper fabric as the old had been beat to death in wind over the past 2 years…Wyoming, Colorado, Ohio and South Dakota.

So, here we go - RV TV!

The small bedroom tv was not too bad to remove and we started there.

Out and apart and a temporary “test” with foil around the burnt fuse (Bill’s trick) and it worked!

The front tv presented a few challenges in the way of nuts and bolts in exceptionally tight places, a heavy and awkwardly shaped thing to remove from up high, cables to unhook while balancing a heavy and awkwardly shaped thing up high, room for 2 skinny people to balance the thing and unhook cables and we are not 2 skinny people… We are however, 2 stubborn, determined people who once we start something push on and we did and got the darn thing out and opened up and it also worked with the jury-rigged fuse and foil.

Next challenge was trying to read the specs of the fuse…then finding a fuse locally. A number of phone calls, trip to a place that said they had it, another trip and we had them…

The rear tv was put back together and reinstalled.

The front tv was as challenging to put back as it was to take out - AND we moved the DVD player into the inverter/switch cubby where it should have been.

A few notes relevant to the 2003 Winnebago Adventurer 33V inverter and tv setup: The inverter up front is hard wired to the bedroom tv. The front tv and the dvd player are plugged into receptacles on the rear of the inverter. The 300 watt inverter runs both tvs and now the front dvd player (the rear tv has a built in dvd player) off the house batteries. This allows the tvs and dvds to be used with no shore power. Hardly mission critical but there have been times during bad thunderstorms when I have unhooked from shore power to decrease lighting strike potential…nice to be able to run the tv for news or a movie.

Original equipment when I purchased the motorhome was a VCP plugged into the inverter along with the front tv - I removed the VCP some time ago, the shop had installed the DVD player in the opposite cubby. This project made it easy to move the DVD player where the original VCP was and plug it into the inverter as it should be plus all of the “entertainment” components are now together in one cubby.

RV TV - The End!

Next RV project is washing the beasts…Bill ordered and we have received, the “Mr. Clean” RV Wash package…

Edited: 3 p.m. - we used the Mr. Clean system on the front and rear of the Winnebago and the front on the bus…deciding to wait on most of bus until after the Missoula trip for the satellite this week. I didn’t want to use all of the stuff on the Winnebago as it worked very well. The soap solution loosened the dirt and the no-spot rinse, rinsed clean with no spots or streaking. We will buy it again. We did wash the entire Winnebago - sides with a regular RV wash and wax solution. It is fine, just not as nice as the Mr. Clean. And I’m pretty happy we decided to wait on the bus as the Winne and front of the bus were enough workout for this girl! - naptime, now.

The phone call situation was not as horrible as it seemed that it might be. Agreement was reached on how to fix the bus satellite receiver and dish and the “old” stuff is on its way back to the manufacturer for fix or replacement. The 30 amp electric problem has been resolved and so the garage electric service project is complete. Plan B remains open until the satellite equipment has been returned and installed but at the moment, we’ve progressed as far as possible with Plan B.

No, not the ENTIRE bus… Starting from the beginning…our plan as of last week would have been to be leaving for an RV group get together in South Carolina, but our recent escapades in “under the weather-land” caused us to rethink and we decided early in the week that it was just too much in light of work and other issues to make the get together.

But, things to do to get ready to go to Montana so the bus was pulled out yesterday to do some of that.

Then… Bill announced that he had a couple of things for me to do…on the roof of the bus. I’m the roof person being that the ladder to the roof is not all that sturdy and I’m the lightest and most agile.

The things to do were painting a bathroom vent pipe and front spotlight…

REALLY???? “Isn’t this all a bit a*al??” I asked. Decidedly not from the answer I received which is not printable even with “*”…

So this afternoon:

Ok - not that bad to do…the sun was out, not too much breeze - it was pleasantly warm up there! And have to admit, it did look better after…

Can’t even see the plumbing thing-a-ma-bob…I HATE it when he’s right…

**Update July 2008…The Winnebago is back in Montana - near Kalispell. Currently, she is getting new slide toppers. After that, into the auto shop for lube/oil/filter change/checkup, then to the tire shop for new tires all around. I do not have her listed anywhere and will continue using her as I can…not really a seller’s market … But, if interested per the details below, my email for contact is:
ann at beardogco dot com.

Details for the Winnebago (2003 Winnebago Adventurer 33V):

Living room with slide out - passenger dash area has a pull-out workstation where I set up computer, printer and external monitor on top of the printer. There is power (110 and a 12 volt outlet) under the passenger window.

Not a bad galley space - I cook the same things on the road as I do at home. I’ve cooked my homemade pizza, cherry pie and all manner of baked items in the gas oven. For Christmas in AZ (12/05) I baked a prime rib roast in the convection oven.

Dinette has under seat storage as well as making into a bed - for short people or kids! But the sofa is an electric multi-position which makes into either a double recliner with foot rest or a queen bed.

Nice shower! - separate from commode. The shower/commode area can be separated from the forward area and the bedroom by the pocket doors, thus giving 2 sleeping areas private access to all of the bathroom facilities.

Bedroom - RV Queen and a bedroom TV. Lots of storage and plenty of closet and drawer space. I especially like the windows on the ends of the slide which makes for plenty of fresh air.

Windshield shades - daytime, you can see out, but no one can see in. Additionally, keeping the heat off the windshield keeps the forward interior cooler in hot weather.

There is an awning shade which makes for shade and privacy under the awning.

Wyoming Sunset - Don’t ya just want to go RVING????

The 2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport (hardtop) with Blue Ox baseplate (31K), Blue Ox Aventa II tow bar, and Blue Ox Apollo supplemental brake system with breakaway and in coach monitor are also for sale - special deal if you buy the whole shebang!

2003 Winnebago Adventurer 33V $72,000
Blue Ox Aventa II tow bar 500
2002 Jeep Wrangler Sport, baseplate and Apollo* 14,000

Everything to one buyer $82,000.

*There is some stuff installed in the Jeep for the Apollo, as well as the baseplate (bolted on) so both being sold with the Jeep. The Aventa II tow bar is complete as a separate item and can be used with any vehicle (10,000 lb max) set up for 4 wheel towing with a compatible baseplate.